This data collection provides information on health status
and quality of life of the elderly aged 65 and older in 22 provinces
of China in the period 1998 to 2002. The study was conducted to shed
light on the determinants of healthy human longevity and oldest-old
mortality. To this end, data were collected on a larger percentage of
the oldest population, including centenarian and nonagenarian, than
had previously been studied. The CLHLS provides information on the
health, socioeconomic characteristics, family, lifestyle, and
demographic profile of this aged population. Data are provided on
respondents' health conditions, daily functioning, self-perceptions of
health status and quality of life, life satisfaction, mental attitude,
and feelings about aging. Respondents were asked about their diet and
nutrition, use of medical services, and drinking and smoking habits,
including how long ago they quit either or both. They were also asked
about their physical activities, reading habits, television viewing,
and religious activities, and were tested for motor skills, memory,
and visual functioning. In order to ascertain their current state of
health, respondents were asked if they suffered from such health
conditions as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer,
emphysema, asthma, tuberculosis, cataracts, glaucoma, gastric or
duodenal ulcer, arthritis, Parkinson's disease, bedsores, or other
chronic diseases. They were also asked if they needed assistance with
bathing, dressing, toileting, or feeding, and who provided help in
times of illness. Other questions focused on siblings, parents, and
children, the frequency of family visits, and the distance lived from
each other. Demographic items specify age, sex, ethnicity, place of
birth, marital history and status, history of childbirth, living
arrangements, education, main occupation before age 60, and sources of
financial support.

This data collection may not be used for any purpose
other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to
learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. In
preparing the data files for this collection for public archiving and
distribution, the producers have removed direct identifiers and
characteristics that might lead to identification of data subjects.
Due to the sensitive nature of the restricted data, users will need to complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement before they can obtain the restricted version. These forms can be accessed on the download page associated with this dataset. Completed forms with original signature(s) should be emailed to icpsr-nacda@umich.edu.

All centenarians who voluntarily agreed to participate in
the study in the randomly selected nearly half of the counties and
cities of 22 provinces in China. For each centenarian, one
octogenarian aged 80-89 living nearby, one nearby nonagenarian aged
90-99, and one nearby younger elder aged 65-79 of pre-designated age
and sex were interviewed.

1998 Wave: 98 percent for the oldest old. 2000
Wave: 98.9 percent for surviving and replenished interviewees, and
97.9 percent for the deceased respondents based on the next-of-kin
proxy. The proportion lost to follow-up was 9.6 percent.

2007-02-06 The data have been updated. There are
now three separate data files, and multiple documentation files are
available.

Notes

Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions.

One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.

The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. Please see version history for more details.

This study is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA), the aging program within ICPSR. NACDA is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Heath (NIH).